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The Guard is likely to re-sign famous Valorant player Trent “trent” Cairns to their squad for the VALORANT Champions Tour 2023 season.
Cairns, who will be in the starting line-up joined the North American esports franchise in January and Harrison “psalm” Chang was moved to the inactive roster.
The player quickly rose to star status upon joining The Guard and has been an important part of their improvement since the start of the year.
During his stint, the player assisted the team to move from tier 2 competitions to represent the North American region in international Valorant tournaments.
Despite The Guard not making it to Riot Games’ franchising, trent will continue his tenure with them.
The Guard became a force to reckon with in North America after the team participated in the VCT Stage One Challengers in March.
During the online tournament, they defeated prominent teams like OpTic Gaming, Luminosity, Cloud9, and Sentinels. The NA squad finished in first place during the event and earned a slot in the VCT Stage One: Masters Reykjavík. That was the end of their victory run, as The Guard did not win a single match in the tournament.
The squad suffered disappointing losses at the hands of OpTic Gaming and Paper Rex. They were then just one win away from qualifying for the 2022 World Championship after losing to 100 Thieves in the NA Last Chance Qualifiers.
Trent’s performance on the squad made him stand out and as a result, several Valorant teams clamoured for him during the off-season. The Sentinels were the most prominent outfit that wanted the player. However, the teams were unable to reach an understanding.
For a time, the Evil Geniuses were interested in trent. If the player had been signed to any of the squads, he would have had a secure path to the American 2023 league, but it was not to be.
Besides his reputation as a flexible controller, trent is also an impressive initiator player, known for his use of Sova and Skye. He has used both agents to carry out several plays that surprised and delighted esports fans.
One of trent’s more popular performances was during The Guard’s tier 1 competition debut in the NA scene, where they faced off against Luminosity Gaming.
Although he will remain in The Guard’s plans for 2023, the team experienced other changes. Matthew “mCe” Elmore, the former head coach of The Guards, has been signed to Cloud9 along with Mateja “qpert” Mijović, the assistant coach. W
hile mCe will continue his coaching career in Cloud9, qpert signed on as a player. Ha “Sayaplayer” Jung-woo also left The Guard to join the Korean Valorant scene.
The player signed with T1, who were selected for the VCT Pacific league. Among the starting five players of The Guard, three are currently inactive.
The players, Jacob “valyn” Batio, Jonah “JonahP” Pulice, and Michael “neT” Bernet may not return to active status soon, but they were also allowed to consider other offers.
At the moment, The Guard will need to sign a new coaching staff to replace mCe and qpert, along with at least one new player to take the place of SayaPlayer.
Trent, who is arguably one of the best players on the squad, will continue with The Guard despite them having to play in the North American Challengers tier. If the NA squad wins the new Ascension tournament, they will qualify for a spot in Valorant’s partnership league in 2024.
